Snap-seal.



I SNAP SEAL.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 24,- 1909.

937,575. Patented Oct. 19,1909.

FROM

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EDWARD J. BROOKS, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

SNAP-SEAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 19, 1909.

Application filed June 24, 1909. Serial No. 504,098.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD J. BROOKS, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of East Orange, in the State of New Jersey, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Snap-Seals, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates, in common with previous improvements, toself-fastening seals, or snap seals as they are commonly termed, foruse, as substitutes for lead and wire seals and other press-fastened orpressfastenable sealing devices, to secure the doors of railway freightcars and for other like purposes.

The present invention is additional more particularly to thoseimprovements in snap seals set forth in my previous specificationsforming part of United States Letters Patent No. 919315 dated April 27,1909, and others of earlier dates, setting forth seal parts which haveas a functional element of each a label member which may be ofwaterproof paper or any preferred material and provided with permanentdistinguishing marks, such as serial numbers, which may be Wholly or inpart in the form of printed characters or embossed in thin sheet metal.

The present invention also relates particularly to those snap seals inwhich the flexible shackle is of flat wire provided with snap catches inthe form ofresilient terminal hooks. Examples of such shackles are setforth in my specifications forming part of United States Letters PatentNo. 912534 dated February 16, 1909, and previous specifications thereinreferred to.

This invention consists in certain novel combinations of parts,including a seal part having a label element and a flexible shackle offiat wire having such terminal hooks, and in snap seals embodying suchcombinations or any of them, as hereinafter particularlydescribed andclaimed.

The leading objects of this invention are to facilitate forming andlocating rigid catches of superior efficiency to interact with suchshackle hooks at the sealing operation, and to protect the hooks againstbeing tampered with.

Other objects will be set forth in the general description whichfollows.

A sheet of drawings accompanies this specification as part thereof.

Figure 1 is an edge view of the two ends of an improved snap-sealshackle; Fig. 2 is a face view of the label member of one of theimproved seal parts; Figs. 3 and 4 are respectively face and edge viewsof the catch member of the same; Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively face andedge views of its shell member; Fig. 7 represents a longitudinal sectionthrough the improved snap seal represented in detail by Figs. 1 to 6inclusive; Fig. 8 is a small-scale edge View of the same, showing theloop of the shackle; Fig. 9 represents a magnified cross section on theline AB, Fig. 1; Figs. 10, 11 and 12 are face views respectively of thelabel member, catch member and shell member of the seal part of anotherof the improved snap seals; Fig. 13 is an edge view of the improved sealrepresented by Figs. 10, 11 and 12, partly in section in the planeindicated by the line C-D, Fig. 12; Fig. 14 is a small scale back Viewof the snap seal represented by Figs. 10 to 13, inclusive, and Fig. 15is a back View of another seal part illustrating an additionalmodification.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in all the figures.

The improved snap seal in any of its forms is composed of a flexiblefiat wire shackle, (1, Figs. 1, 7 and 8, or (L Figs. 13 and 14, havingpreferably at both ends resilient ter minal hooks, 1 and 2, formed bypermanent bends of the wire, and a substantially fiat seal part ofcurvilinear outline in face or back view, such as is represented byFigs. 2, 3 and 5, or Figs. 10, 12 and 14', or by Fig. 15.

The seal part in each of its forms includes a label member, Z) or 6which may be of waterproof paper or the like having distinguishingcharacters printed thereon as represented by the serial number 496,879Fig. 2, or From Consigned to and the serial number 5999 in- Fig. 10; orthis member may be made of very thin sheet metal, such as tin measuringfifty or sixty one-thousandths or less. Immediately behind such labelmember I) or [9 so as to be covered and protected thereby, there is ineach seal part a' catch member, such as that shown at 0, Figs. 3, 4 and7, or 0 Figs. 11 and 13; the same being of sheet metal and provided withrigid catches, 1 and 2, formed by permanent indentations therein. Saidcatch member in each seal part is backed by the body of a shell membersuch as is shown at d, Figs. 5 to S inclusive, or at d Figs. 12 to 14inclusive, or (Z Fig. 15; and, in any of the forms, this shell member ismade of suitable sheet metal such as an ordinary grade of stiff tin, andincludes a pair of tunnel-shaped projections 1" and 2 formed therein bysuitable dies, together with a continuous rim 3, which serves to unitethe several members of the seal part as in Figs. 7 and 8, or Figs. 13and 14:.

In the species represented by Figs. 1 to 9 inclusive, the improvedshackle a is further constructed with inlet guards, 4, formed byrendering a suflicient length of each end of the shackle U-shaped incross section between suitable dies, with the back of the shackle flator smooth as shown in Fig. 1, and the convexity of the inlet guard 4: inline with the adjacent hook I or 2, so that in the fastened seal, Figs.7 and 8, the inlet guards close or obstruct the inlets, 5, of thetunnel-shaped projections 1 and 2 so as to prevent tampering with thehooks by means of tools inserted through such inlets. Tampering with thehooks from the other side of the catch member 0 is prevented by thelabel member .7). See Fig. 7 Said form of inlet guard serves also tostiffen the shackle end so as to facilitate thrusting the adjoining hook1 or 2 endwise through the appropriate inlet 5 into engagement with thecorresponding catch 1 or 2 within the passage formed by thecorresponding tunnel shaped projection 1 or 2. The label member b, thecatch member 0 and the shell member 03 in said first species areconveniently of a long oval shape, which is preferred, and said catches12 and tunnel-shaped projections 12 of the catch member 0 and shellmember cZ respectively are located in common in line with each other andalong the longer diameter of the member; the outer ends of saidtunnel-shaped projections being open to form said inlets 5, and saidrigid catches 1 and 2 projecting into the passages formed by saidtunnel-shaped projections at or about midlength as shown in F i 7.

In the species represented by Figs. 10 to 14 inclusive, the label 6 andshell member 01 are preferably and conveniently round or disk-shaped,and the catch member 0 is constructed in the shape of a segment of acircle adapted to fit, together with the label member [2 within the rim3 of the shell member 6?; being provided at its lower edge with a pairof supplemental catches, 6, which interlock with the inner ends of thehollow backs of the tunnel-shaped projections 1 and 2 of said shellmember 03 these tunnel-shaped projections being arranged as shown inFigs. 12 and 14: in converging oblique lines equidistant from the centerof the shell member 03 with their inlet ends 5 outermost.

The shackle a if sufficiently long may be of the same construction asthe shackle a of the first species, or it may be constructed asrepresented in Figs. 13 and 14, especially if the seal be of a smallsize, without distinct inlet guards, and with a twist, 7, in each end,so as to facilitate forming the bow 8 of the shackle.

The modification represented by Fig. 15 relates wholly to the shape ofthe seal part, which may have any preferred curvilinear shape in face orback view, including parallelograms provided the corners 9 are suitablyrounded as represented in Fig. 15. Other like modifications will suggestthemselves to those skilled in the art. 1

In any of the forms, the shackle and seal part would be united at thefactory at one of the shackle ends, and, for the purposes of thisinvention, that end and its accessories may be of any known or improvedconstruction. Both shackle ends and their appurtenances may preferablyand conveniently be of one and the same construction, and are so shownin the accompanying drawings.

Having thus described said improvement, I claim as my invention anddesire to patent under this specification:

1. The combination, in a snap seal, of a flexible shackle of .flat'wire,and a substantially fiat seal part',;' preliminarily united at one ofthe shackle-ends, said shackle having at its other end a resilientterminal hook, and said seal part comprising a member constructed with arigid catch projection arranged to interact with said hook, a labelmember covering one side of such catch member, a shell member coveringthe other side of said catch member and provided with a tunnel-shapedprojection forming an inlet and passage constructed to admit said hookand leading past said catch, and means for permanently uniting theseveral members of the seal part.

2. In combination with a flexible shackle of fiat wire having resilientterminal hooks, a substantially flat seal part comprising a labelmember, a catch member provided with rigid catch projections arranged tointeract with said hooks, a shell member provided with tunnel-shapedprojections forming inlets and passages constructed to admit said hooksand leading past said catches, and means for ermanently uniting theseveral members 0 the seal part.

3. In combination with a flexible shackle of flat wire having resilientterminal hooks, a substantially flat seal part of a long oval shapecomprising a label member, a catch member provided with rigid catchprojections arranged to interact with said hooks, a shell memberprovided with tunnel-shaped projections forming passages having openinlet-forming outerends constructed to admit said hooks and leading pastsaid catches, and means for permanently uniting the several members ofthe seal part said catches and tunnel-shaped projections being locatedin common in line with each other I and along the longer diameter of theseal art. p 4. In combination With a flexible shackle of flat Wirehaving resilient terminal hooks, a substantially flat seal part ofcurvilinear outline in face and back view, composed of a label member ofpaper or the like, a sheetmetal catch member provided with rigid catchprojections arranged to interact with said hooks and a sheet-metal shellmember provided With tunnel shaped projections forming inlets andpassages constructed to admit said hooks and into Which said catchesproject to interact With the respective hooks, said shell member beingfurther constructed with a continuous rim by which the several

